Southampton 1-1 Watford

Southampton won their last four Premier League games of last season to finish sixth in the table

Nathan Redmond scored on his first Premier League appearance for Southampton to rescue a point against Watford at St Mary's Stadium.

Etienne Capoue rifled the Hornets into the lead after a header by Troy Deeney created space for the midfielder.

Southampton's Shane Long headed Dusan Tadic's cross wide before Redmond, who joined from Norwich in the summer, volleyed Tadic's corner home.

Watford substitute Ben Watson was sent off for a foul on Long on 76 minutes.

Relive the action from St Mary's Stadium as 10-man Watford secure a point

Reaction from Saturday's Premier League games

Wayward Saints leave Puel with much to consider

Southampton have a long season ahead under new manager Claude Puel as they look to juggle a busy Premier League campaign with the group stage of the Europa League. They ended the Ronald Koeman era with four-straight league wins.

And although Redmond's goal was greeted with relief, there was frustration at the end. The Saints were laboured and lacked cutting edge after falling behind until Redmond's equaliser.

Southampton had 24 shots - six shots on target (left), 10 off target (middle) and eight blocked

Watson had only been on the pitch for 11 minutes and 23 seconds when he was shown a red card for hauling down Long as the striker looked to race through on goal.

Former Bayern Munich midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg provided promise for the Saints with his surging runs after coming on as a substitute.

Can Watford surprise under Mazzarri?

There was surprise when Watford announced Quique Sanchez Flores was to leave after steering the club to the FA Cup semi-final and a 13th-placed finish last season.

Yet the Hornets delivered a dogged performance in Walter Mazzarri's first competitive game in charge to leave their travelling fans optimistic about the season ahead.

They were without club-record signing Isaac Success because of injury yet went ahead as Capoue fired his first league goal for the Hornets after a sweeping move involving the impressive Nordin Amrabat and Deeney.

It was Watford's only shot on target in the game.

Hornets goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes saved well from the busy Tadic while Craig Cathcart and Sebastian Prodl were both solid at the back, particularly after Watson's dismissal left them seriously under pressure.

How did the new signings do?

Southampton:

Nathan Redmond - A superbly-taken goal from a corner. Looked much livelier after the interval after a slow start.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg - Injected pace and urgency into the team after coming on early in the second half. The Danish midfielder was not afraid to shoot and was hard-working.

Jeremy Pied - The French defender came on with 11 minutes of normal time remaining.

Watford:

Juan Camilo Zuniga - Watford have signed five players this summer but Colombia defender Zuniga is the only one who made it on to the pitch at St Mary's. The 30-year-old, on a season-long loan from Napoli, came on as a late substitute and still made some crucial challenges to help earn his side a point.

Man of the Match - Dusan Tadic (Southampton)

Watford produced a fine defensive performance to stop Southampton from winning but they struggled to deal with the pace and trickery of Serbia midfielder Dusan Tadic, who did everything but score

What they said:

Southampton boss Claude Puel: "At half-time I told the players 'just don't be afraid'. In the second half it was important to make good intentions and play good football.

"If you play good football, you don't have problems. This was true in the second half.

"In the second half you can see the future."

Southampton goalscorer Nathan Redmond: "The manager told us at half-time to take pride in what we were doing. We showed great spirit to come back.

"To get my first goal is good but I'd have preferred the three points."

Watford boss Walter Mazzarri: "When we had 10 men we were not able to play our game but the team showed great character.

"I think in the first half we could have got a bit more. When our energy was good we played a great game but we couldn't quite finish the game off.

"The players have done well with the formation and I think we were unlucky with the red card because we were playing well at that moment."

The game in numbers...

0: Watford have never won on the opening weekend of a Premier League season (D2 L2)

13: Southampton have conceded in 13 consecutive Premier League games, their longest run without a clean sheet since November 2012.

4: Ben Watson received his fourth red card in English league football, and his first since October 2009.

6: Troy Deeney has been involved in six of Watford's past seven Premier League goals (four goals, two assists).

What next?

While Southampton's next game is against Manchester United at Old Trafford next Friday (20:00 BST), Watford have a bit more time to prepare for their next match. That is against Chelsea at home on 20 August (15:00).